What does it mean that a benevolent person enjoys water and a wise person enjoys mountains?

The original text should be "The wise enjoy the water, the benevolent enjoy the mountains." It means that people and nature are connected, the customs of mountains and water are also reflected in people's character, and the joy of the wise is dynamic, like water. The happiness of a benevolent person is quiet, like a mountain.

Source

"The Analects of Confucius"·Yong Ye Chapter, Confucius said: "Those who know (zhì) are happy in water, and those who are benevolent are happy in mountains; those who know (zhì) are active, and those who are benevolent are quiet; those who know are happy" , benevolent people live longer.

Translation

Confucius said: "A wise person loves water, a righteous person loves mountains; a wise person knows how to adapt, and a righteous person has a peaceful mind." Wise people are happy, and righteous people live long.

Related expansion

"The Analects of Confucius". It is a collection of quotations written by Confucius's disciples and his disciples who recorded the words and deeds of Confucius and his disciples. It was written in the early Warring States Period. ***20 chapters and 492 chapters. It embodies the political opinions, ethical thoughts, moral concepts, educational principles and other philosophical thoughts of the Confucian school. Since the Song Dynasty, it has been listed as one of the "Four Books". It is an official textbook and examination book in ancient times.

The "wise man" and "benevolent man" mentioned in Confucius' article refer to the cultivated "gentleman". He hoped that the ruling class could all achieve "wisdom" and "benevolence", as long as they possess these qualities , you can reach the realm of the so-called saint.

The Yong Ye chapter of "The Analects of Confucius" contains 30 chapters. Among the famous sentences are: "A wise man returns home with a basket of food and a ladle of drink in a back alley"; "Quality is worse than literature, which leads to wildness; literature is worse than quality, which is history. If literature and quality are gentle, then a gentleman"; "Those who know well are not as good as those who know well. Those who are good are not as good as those who are happy"; "Respect ghosts and gods and stay away from them"; "If you want to establish yourself, you can establish others; if you want to achieve yourself, you can reach others.